


Spoon-clothes-peg candle holders

by scribbled_handwrite



Category: Ripper Street
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 13:00:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13167444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribbled_handwrite/pseuds/scribbled_handwrite
Summary: Susan survived S5 and returned with her husband and her son to America. Now, it’s the first Christmas for them as family after they had left London.WARNING: This is a terrible weepie! Extreme fluffy fluff! Something warm for the heart.Relative short chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

The clock stroke half past nine and it was already broad daylight when Susan opened her eyes. ‘Jesus, it’s late’, she thought. ‘Why nobody has woke me up?’ She sat upright and looked to the right. No Jackson. His side of the bed was empty and his clothes had been disappeared. 

Unusual silence in the house. Then, fast footsteps. 

The door sprung open, Connor rushed in and jumped on his mother’s bed. He was dressed in a thick winter jacket, a bobble hat on his head, the hands in gloves. His boots were dirty; and the mud on his boots made the white bed linen filthy. His cheeks were blushed because of the cold outside and out of his red nose run permanently glassy snot. He beamed. 

„Mama, mama, you must come quickly“, he urged excitingly, grabbed Susan’s hand and dragged it with all his power. She didn't resist and followed her boy through the corridors, down the huge stairs into the living room until she stood in front of a strange shaped green plant. 

Her husband next to it smirked proudly. „We have a tree“, he said. Connor added, „It’s a Christmas tree.“ He released Susan‘s hand to frolic happily around the misshaped thing. 

„So, you both left the house early in the morning to fetch a tree? Why?“ 

Jackson widened his eyes. „Are you kidding? Don't you know what day we have today? 

„It’s Sunday“, said Susan, “middle of December, around the 20th, I think.“ 

Jackson shook his head. He went to his wife and put his hands on her shoulders. „It’s the 24th of December, Christmas Eve.“ He made a gesture towards to the ugly fir tree. „Maybe, it isn‘t the perfect representative of its species, but regarding to the fact that it was the last that I’ve gotten, it is a big deal.“ 

Jackson smiled. „And it is ours!“ He kissed quickly Susan‘s cheek before he walked to Connor. He went down to his knees and started to free his boy from the outdoor clothes. 

„Where‘s Cedric and Hattie?“, asked Susan as she had noticed that she hadn‘t seen none of the staff so far. „In the kitchen helping Mrs. Smithers?“ 

„No“, answered Conner, „they are at home.“ 

„What does it mean?“ Susan gazed at her husband, expecting an explanation. 

„I gave them two days off, today and tomorrow“, said Jackson, „that they can spend the holidays with their families.“ 

Susan breathed heavily in. „It means we are alone.“ 

Jackson nodded. „Wonderful, isn't it.“ He laid Connors clothes and his one aside. Then, he clapped his hands. „Wife, son, there’s plenty to do.“ 

„Yes! Plenty to do“, repeated Connor in expectation for his orders. 

„First, we will decorate our tree. So, Darlin‘, where is the Christmas stuff?“ 

Susan hesitated a moment. Then, she gulped. „There is no Christmas stuff.“ 

„What? This is a wealthy man's house. There must be something. Everybody has Christmas stuff, at least, one fucking straw star.“

Susan shook her head. She looked down to the ground like a child confessing a sin. „No straw stars, glass balls, bells, garlands, candy sticks, ribbons - none of all these things“, she said sadly. „The Swift house was never meant to be a cosy home and never saw a Christmas.“

She lifted up her head, saw in the unbelieving eyes of her two men, sighed and turned around. „I dress me. Then, I go in the kitchen and try to make some food for us.“ Without a further word she disappeared. 

Jackson felt a small hand touching his. He looked down and saw in the huge asking eyes of his son. The Captain pursed his lips, made a serious and resolute face and said, „This is not a Swift house anymore. This is a Judge house now! I am the master of the house and I will find something usable for decoration here. Let’s start searching in the attic first.“


	2. Chapter 2

Susan was terribly sorry. She had completely forgotten about Christmas.

 

They were back in America only since a few weeks, back in her birthplace only since a week and - to be honest - it didn’t feel real to be here and to be alive.

 

Christmas?

 

Never here!

 

All in all, Susan knew very little about the Christmas feast. Not until she went to the lady‘s school and her class mates talked about it and their traditions, she became aware that there existed a joyful feast for family and friends. Because she didn‘t have any experiences with it herself and didn't want to be the outsider, she invented stories about her Christmases with her father according to books that she had read.

Later as young girl, her Christmases consisted of stupid parties with people she didn’t like and then, with Jackson, of smoky pubs or shabby back-rooms. Last one, at least, was an improvement. She wasn‘t alone anymore. But sadly, it didn’t last and the loneliness came back.

In the Tender Street and in her self-chosen Obsidian bunker residence, she did what was expected but in addition to that nothing else. She avoided the Christmas time as good as possible.

How strange that Christmas with all its warmth and its power finally came over her in the terrible dark place of Newgate Prison. Every time, it promised hope. Especially last year, from which she thought it will be her last one.

Now, Susan was standing in front of her mirror at home in her bedroom and remembered the promise of a hopeful dream, that she had given at Christmas Eve  in prison to her toddler son: I will be a decent mother, doing all the things which mothers do, and you should have all the things that normal children have. You will miss nothing. 

A wonderful Christmas feast was definitely one of it. 

Susan smoothed her blouse and adjusted the last hairpin. 

‘Well, then’, she thought, ‘we have a tree. Not the prettiest one, but that doesn‘t matter. Candles are in the house. Ribbons, I will find. I will simply to clip them from my old dresses. ... But first of all, I must see what I can do for our Christmas dinner. I am the mother and the wife. It‘s my duty.’ 

She chuckled considering this unusual idea. She grabbed in her wardrobe for some of her old rags, left the room and rushed into the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Jackson and Connor had entered the attic. It was a scary, creepy and very dusty place, but also hell of exciting. They rummaged around, each in another corner. Antique furniture, paintings of ugly people with big noses and strange hairdos in broken frames, interesting metallic instruments nobody knew their use anymore, stacks of papers and boxes full of files - but no Christmas equipment. 

Jackson sighed. It was frustrating. In this mood, he kicked against a box. It clinked. Jackson grinned and called for Connor. The boy came immediately with a piece of paper in his hand. 

„I think, I‘ve found it“, said the Captain. Full of anticipation, he opened the box, but then ... No glass balls or other decorative things for the joyful season. Instead, he had found a broken chandelier of bombastic size. He sat down, let his fingers run through his hair and sighed again. „It looks as we must go on searching.“ 

Connor examined the former lighting device and dragged out one of the crystals. Fascinated, he turned it in the poor light of their torch. „It‘s sparkling“, he noticed. Jackson watched him. ‘Damned, the boy was right’, he thought when he felt an idea growing in his mind. 

„Son, you are a genius“, he yelled, embraced the kid and kissed him on the forehead. Then, he laughed. Connor, a bit confused, joined him. 

„What do you think when we collect all the crystals and hang them on our tree?“ 

„It would be lovely“, answered Connor. „I can collect them. I put them in my pockets.“ 

Jackson nodded approvingly. 

Connor turned to the box, but turned back again. „Daddy, you must hold my photo“, he said and reached his father the piece of paper that he had kept in his hand all the time. Obviously, he had found it whilst searching, liked it and took it. Why not? Nobody claimed one of the things here. 

Jackson took the photograph and asked, „What is on it?“ 

Connor shrugged his shoulders. „Mama“, he said shortly. 

Jackson smiled, had a look at the yellowed and heavily faded out picture and was surprised as he saw what he had not expected:

A beautiful woman who looked, indeed, very similar to his Caitlin, with a baby in her arms. Judging according to the old fashioned clothing and the hairdo, and of course the fact that Newgate prisoners wouldn't be photographed like this, this woman couldn‘t be his wife. But his wife was undeniably on the photo. 

„Connor!“ 

The boys head appeared out of the chandeliers box. 

„Come here.“ 

The kid obeyed, but said, „I haven‘t collected all.“ Hard to believe. His pockets seemed to burst and the weight of the crystals dragged his trousers down. Chained crystals hang around his neck and over his ears. Hilarious. 

Connor sat down beside his father and glanced at him expectantly. 

„Your mother is on the picture“, said Jackson. Connor rolled his eyes, pointed on the lady and replied annoyed, „I know.“ 

Jackson shook his head. „No. That isn‘t her.“

His son was confused and protested. „No. That‘s mama. I know it because mama looks like this!“ 

Jackson chuckled, shook his head again and repeated. „No. That isn‘t her. ... This is your mother.“ He tapped on the child on the picture. 

Connor frowned. „That‘s a baby“, he considered. 

„You‘re right“, confirmed his dad. „This is your mama when she was a baby and this“, he tapped on the woman on the photo, „ is the mama of your mama, your grandmother.“ 

Connor opened amazed his mouth. „Really?“ 

„Yes!“, confirmed Jackson. „We should give it mama.“ 

„No! It‘s mine.“ 

„But, don‘t you think, it would make mama happy?“ 

Connor was quiet for a while. One could hear how his little brain considered the situation. Then, he whispered, „All right. But it‘s a secret present.“ 

Jackson looked deeply in his son‘s eyes. „Of course!“


	4. Chapter 4

Susan wasn't surprised to find the ground-floor empty. She was sure that Jackson and Connor where somewhere in the house together, occupied, probably on the search for some Christmas decoration. 

In the kitchen, she had made fire in the oven and found a notebook with a letter from Mrs. Smithers on the kitchen table. 

_Dear Mrs. Judge,_

_Thank you very much for the free days. I am - as well as Cedric and Hattie - thankful to spend Christmas with my family. But I am also a little bit worried to leave you all without decent food. That‘s why I‘ve prepared a roast. All you need to do is warm it up. The other things need to be done freshly. For this, I‘ve left you my recipe book and marked all in it. All ingredients are in the pantry. Furthermore, I‘ve made a plan for an effective work. Don‘t worry, it‘s simple and you can make it. Merry Christmas! Yours faithfully Maud Smithers_

Susan sent a quick prayer to heaven and to Mrs. Smithers before she studied the plan. It seemed to be not difficult, but it definitively needed time. 

Now, it was nearly noon and her two men will come soon as two hungry wolves searching for food. So, she decided to make some sandwiches for them, before she would occupy herself with the Christmas dinner. 

Susan also wanted to find the candles and produce some ribbons that Jackson and Connor, in the very probable case that they weren't successful with their search, would have something to decorate the tree together. 

So, she didn‘t waste time and started to work.


	5. Chapter 5

It was exactly 12 o‘clock when Jackson and Connor were back downstairs in the living room with their treasures. 

Connor immediately found the goodies on the table, grabbed the food and buried his mouth in the soft bread. The note, he had also found, he handed over to his father. „What does it say“, he asked chewing. „We don‘t talk with full mouth“, admonished Jackson before he started reading aloud. 

_Gentlemen,_

_I have made some sandwiches for lunch and popcorn as little strengthening for your afternoon activities. The candles in the box and the ribbons are maybe useful for the tree decoration. Surprise me and don‘t dare to enter the kitchen!_

Jackson folded the paper and laid it down, took a sandwich too and said to his boy who was already munching the second one, „your mom banned us from the kitchen - this day should be marked in the calendar.“ He bit with relish into his sandwich and ate some popcorn afterwards. 

„Do you know what we did with popcorn at Christmas time when I was a boy?“ 

Connor grabbed in the bowl and tried to hold as much popcorn a possible in his little hand, but half of it fell through the fingers and left a mess on the table. The rest, he stuffed into his mouth and said, again munching, „you ate it.“ 

Jackson shook his head. „No. We had strung it on a thread.“ 

„And then you ate it“, guessed Connor. 

„No. We hung the popcorn strings as garlands on the Christmas tree. Do you think we should do this too?“ 

Even though, Connor couldn't see the sense of it, he nodded. 

„Fine“, said Jackson. He took the next sandwich, bit in, munched, „so, we have crystals, ribbons, popcorn garlands - provided, you didn't eat it up before - and candles for our tree. Perfect!“ Jackson rubbed his chin. „Now, we must only think up a cunning construction to fix the candles on the tree.“ After the last sandwich, he had a brilliant idea. 

Whilst Connor had a noon nap on the sofa, Jackson collected the last things he needed and when the boy woke up, everything was there to decorate the tree.


	6. Chapter 6

By and by the day had passed, the tree got a decent Christmas dress and the house filled with a delicious smell of food. 

At 6 o‘clock in the evening, the kitchen door opens and Susan appeared in surprisingly good condition. „Dinner is ready“, she said proudly. 

„As well as the tree“, said Jackson and stepped aside that his wife could see the result of the hard afternoon work. It was amazing and absolutely beautiful. 

Connor explained, „the crystals are from a broken lamp that we have found above and then, we have strung the popcorn and I didn't eat it up before and then, daddy tied loops with the ribbons ...“ 

“And for the candles, I have invented a very special holder“, grinned Jackson and demonstrated his device: silver spoons - the hollow with the candle pointed to the top - were bent around the branches and fixed with clothes pegs for security. „What do you think, Darlin‘?“ 

Susan folded her arms. „Mmh, I think, it‘s the best use for this awful silverware that I can imagine and this is the most beautiful tree that I have ever seen.“ 

Connor beamed. „It's much more beautiful when the candles are lighted.“ 

„Yes!“, confirmed the Captain, „but that we will do after dinner.“ He clapped on his belly. „I am hungry. Wife, what do you have for us?“

 

+++++

 

The kitchen table with the white tablecloth was filled with food and lovely decorated. The roast was the center, vegetables, mashed potatoes, pie, pudding, fruits and nuts arranged around; wine for the adults and fresh lemonade for the kid, burning candles - an inviting atmosphere. 

„Wow!“, yelled out Jackson surprised, because he had not expected this. 

Susan blushed. „Sit down, please“, she said, „Mrs. Smithers had prepared the roast for us. I have only warmed it up. But I made the other things.“ 

Susan was nervous. For her, the situation was like a test in school. She wasn‘t sure, if they would like it and if the food tastes well. 

Relief when she saw the first indications that her beloved ones liked it. They ate all of the dishes with great appetite and joy and they didn’t care that the vegetables were not completely cooked, that the pie was a little bit too long in the oven and that the consistencies of the mashed potatoes and the sauce were questionable. But the pudding ... The pudding was, indeed, a true poem and the best dish of all.  

Susan had done a good job, had successfully fed her family and had made them happy.


	7. Chapter 7

After the rich dinner, the three returned into the living room. Susan and Connor sat down on the sofa and watched Jackson lightning the candles on the tree. Then, he sat down on the sofa too. 

The crystals started to sparkle and made the living room to a magic space. Fascinating! 

After a while, Connor asked his father, „when do we give mama the secret gift?“ 

„You have a secret gift for me?“ 

„Yes“, confirmed Connor, „but it’s secret. I can’t tell you.“ Again, he turned to Jackson. „Can mama have it now?“ 

„We wanted to hide it in her stocking, remember“, said the Captain, „that she will find it tomorrow morning.“ 

Connor made a face. „Tomorrow, one can‘t wait so long. She must have it now.“ 

„All right, kiddo“, said Jackson, „fetch it! ... but it‘s an exception!“ 

The lad jumped off the sofa, disappeared for a moment and returned with piece of paper in his hand. He climbed on his mother’s lap and gave her reverently his gift. Then, he snuggled on her chest. The boy’s finger tapped on the photo. „The woman is not you“, he knew, „it’s your mama and the baby is you.“ 

As Connor lifted his head, he saw tears running off his mother‘s eyes. It worried him, so, he frowned and reproachfully turned to his dad, „you have said that would make mama happy.“ 

“It does”, said Susan. She embosomed the boy and gave him a kiss. „It’s a wonderful gift. I am very, very  happy.“ 

„But you are crying.“ 

„Sometimes, people cry when they are happy“, explained Jackson. He tousled his confused son‘s hair, sat closer to his wife to take her in his arms. „We will frame it and then, we put it on the fireplace. It will be the first of our family gallery. And every year, we will add a new one as well as we will decorate our Christmas tree every with crystals, popcorn strings, ribbons and spoon-clothes-peg candle holders. Do you know why? Because, this is Judge house with Judge traditions.“

 

THE END

 

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**THANK YOU FOR READING! MERRY CHRISTMAS!**

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